MISSION

＠ To raise the level of Japanese football and promote the diffusion of the
   game through the medium of professional football.
＠ To foster the development of Japan's sporting culture, to assist in the
   healthy mental and physical growth of Japanese people.
＠ To contribute to international friendship and exchange.

THE PROFESSIONAL SPORT

Launched in 1993

The J.League kicked off at the Tokyo National Stadium in front of a crowd of
59,626 supporters on May 15, 1993. The day marked not only the long-awaited
start of professional football in Japan, but also that of a new sporting cul-
ture based on community roots never before been seen in this country.

The J.League stadiums today are packed with local fans wearing their own team
colours, and local sports volunteers help inside the stadiums and out to make
sure that all runs smoothly. Words like supporter have been added to the Japa-
nese vocabulary, and football people around the world have been impressed by
the friendly family atmosphere in the grounds and high level of safety for
children, women and the elderly.

Many Japanese children now dream of playing in the J.League. The clubs have
grown as symbols of their regions. Children's soccer, park football and futsal
have all expanded as football extends its community roots.

The arrival of some of the world's most famous players, especially after the
1994 World Cup, helped to teach Japan's top players new techniques, strategies
and professional awareness. The advent of the J.League has brought great pro-
gress to club and team management as well.

The J.League places high priority on club youth teams for each age group. In
2002, it also launched the J.League Academy, an institution inspired by simi-
lar child training projects in the football powerhouses of Europe. The academy
provides appropriate physical training and sports guidance to children from
pre-school age. The long-term aim is to develop a Japanese-style system for
fostering talent that will not only take Japanese football to the very highest
global level, but also provide the sound social training that children need
at each stage of their own individual mental and physical development.

Football's Popularity in Japan

The J.League has now been an extraordinary phenomenon for more than a decade.
The number of clubs has grow to 28, and the level of play has risen steadily.
One of the J.League's founding goals was to strengthen Japanese football. The
results were seen in Japan's first qualification for the FIFA World Cup, at
France in 1998, and then the success in reaching the last 16 at the 2002 FIFA
World Cup, co-hosted by Korea Republic and Japan. J.League players who shone
at these World Cups now play at some of the world's top clubs. More than ten
former J.League players were with foreign clubs in 2003.

Aggregate attendances briefly dipped after hitting a peak of 5.6 million in
1994, but have increased strongly again since 2001 as the number of core fans
grows. A new record of 6.8 million was set in 2003. Last season's average
attendances were 17,351 in Division One (J1) and 7,895 in Division Two (J2).
J2 club Albirex Niigata at 30,339 had the league's highest average.


THE SPORTS COMMUNITY FOR ALL

~ The One Hundred Year Vision ~

The J.League's Aims and the Home Town System

The J.League was established on November 1, 1991, with the three primary goals
of promoting the diffusion and improvement of Japanese football, nurturing the
development of a rich sporting culture that can provide for the healthy mental
and physical development of the whole population, and contributing to inter-
national friendship and exchange.

Each club was required to base its activities in a home town area and work to-
ward these goals in close cooperation with local residents, administrators and
corporations. The community was placed at the core. The home town was not a
franchise, but the place where everybody would work together to improve com-
munity life through sport.

The J.League was also a deliberate move away from company sports teams. The
clubs were told to diversify their ownership base, so that the business for-
tunes of a single company would not endanger club management. Team names were
changed from those of private companies to the home town name plus a newly
chosen name for each. The vision for club management was later modified and
clarified as economic stagnation, player wage inflation and other problems
drove several clubs into difficulty in the late 1990's. The J.League started
announcing club management data in 1999 and appointed an expert mana gement
consulting committee to provide appropriate guidance. Management seminars,
further stock diversification and other such measures have all helped to give
the J.League's clubs a firm base in each community.

Joy, confidence and a sense of responsibility are learned through both study
and play. The J.League believes that sport provides a basis for the future
social and physical health of society. Sport gives children a sense of
achievement, relieves stress in adults, and oils communication in the family
and community.

The J.League's Hundred Year Vision is the vision of a Sports Community for All,
regardless of age, sex or physical ability. It encompasses football training
sessions at schools, but also the creation of opportunities for all members of
the community to participate in a wide range of other physical activities. The
J.League budgets 30 million yen each year for the promotion of community sport.

Five J.League clubs also already field teams in other sports: volleyball, beach
volleyball, basketball, relay marathon and triathlon. All 28 clubs are deve-
loping their respective club cultures with the aim of serving as hubs of
community joy, friendship and identity .